Business

Environmental health specialists with the Brunswick County Health Department inspected and graded local restaurants and other food establishments during the past month.

Grades are based on a perfect score of 100, with points taken away for infractions of state health standards. A score of 90 or better represents an A, 80-89, B, 70-79, C. Establishments with a score below C would not be allowed to operate.

Establishments which have two scores during the same inspection period have been re-graded at the management’s request.

Many employees at The Coastal Companies donated time and talent to charitable causes.

Laura Shaurer, property manager and broker-in-charge at Coastal Vacation Resorts on Oak Island, is a certified master diver who spends every Sunday volunteering at the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher as a member of their dive team.

Volunteers participate in two dives per day, 364 days a year, answering questions from visitors and educating them about the varied habitats under the sea.

SUPPLY—What started out as a family-owned and operated general store in 1963 and ended its most recent incarnation as a tax preparer’s office three years ago will soon come full circle. It will open again as a family-owned and operated local food and gift market.

After Blanton’s Tax Service on Stone Chimney Road closed in 2005, the large cinder block building off N.C. 211 remained filled with papers, furniture and odds and ends belonging to the Blanton family.

Brunswick County was the only region in the state reporting an increase in the number of existing home sales in August 2008 compared to the previous August, according to statistics from the N.C. Association of Realtors (NCAR).

In August, Brunswick County reported 199 homes sold, compared to 152 the previous year. Local Realtors sold $46,493,454 worth of homes in August, up from $43,360,174 last August.

The numbers were also up slightly over those of the previous month. In July, local Realtors sold 195 homes.

Environmental health specialists with the Brunswick County Health Department inspected and graded local restaurants and other food establishments during the past month.

Grades are based on a perfect score of 100, with points taken away for infractions of state health standards. A score of 90 or better represents an A; 80-89, B; 70-79, C. Establishments with a score below C would not be allowed to operate. Establishments which have two scores during the same inspection period have been regraded at the management’s request.

Gas prices are at record highs in North and South Carolina. While the state Attorney General’s office is cracking down on price gouging, some local stations are opting not to buy gas until the price goes down.

On Friday, prices in Shallotte and surrounding areas were maxing out at more than $4 a gallon for premium, and vehicles were lined up at stations like Caroco and Kangaroo on Main Street.

As of Tuesday, the highest price for regular grade gas was $4.09 in Shallotte. Premium gas cost as much as $4.23.

Allen Russ, CEO/General Manager of Atlantic Telephone Membership Corporation (ATMC), recently announced the cooperative will issue more than $1.75 million dollars in capital credit refunds.

Since ATMC is a membership cooperative and is owned and governed by its members, the company refunds its subscribers portions of revenues not used for expenses in a given year. These refunds are called capital credits. This year, ATMC’s Board of Directors approved a refund of more than $1.75 million to current and former cooperative members who had service in 1994.

Between 10 and 15 people come into the Brunswick Family Assistance office in Shallotte every day looking for assistance with rent or mortgage payments, many of them on the verge of foreclosure.

While the agency has a small pot of money for rental assistance, it’s usually too late for those facing foreclosure. For that, BFA Executive Director Joe Cannon has to refer clients to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development counseling agencies.

A native of Brunswick County, J. David Ward II, M.D., has joined Oceanside Family Medicine in Shallotte. Ward, who is board certified in family medicine, will offer a full range of medical services for the family, from infants to seniors.

He will join Chris Isenhour, M.D., and Marie Wheatley, NP, at Oceanside Family Medicine, which is at 204 Smith Avenue, Shallotte.